Walkway Over the Hudson

Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park

Highland entrance: 87 Haviland Road, Highland

Poughkeepsie entrance: 61 Parker Avenue, Poughkeepsie

A historic timeline of what is the present-day Walkway Over the Hudson State Park:

• 1868 - An article in the Poughkeepsie Journal introduced the idea of building a railroad bridge across the Hudson.

• 1871 - The Poughkeepsie railroad bridge was chartered.

• 1873 - The first cornerstone of the bridge was laid.

• 1888 - The bridge opened in December and was considered a technological wonder. 1889 - Trains started crossing and at that time it was the longest bridge in the world.World War II - through the war, the bridge carried troops to be shipped overseas. At it's height, 3,500 train cars crossed the bridge on a daily basis.

• 1974 - Fire severely damaged the tracks, ending almost a century of continuous use.

• 1992 - Walkway Over the Hudson began its efforts to provide public access to the bridge and link rail trails on both sides of the Hudson.

• 1998 - Walkway Over the Hudson assumed ownership of the bridge.

• 2007 - Walkway Over the Hudson partnered with the Dyson Foundation to access public and private funding in order to transform the bridge into the world's largest pedestrian park.

• 2008 - After a groundbreaking held in May, construction work began to transform the bridge into a pedestrian park.

• October 3, 2009 - Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park opened to the public.

• June 9, 2012 – The Guiness World Record for the most people doing the “Hokey Pokey” was broken on the Walkway

• August 14, 2014 - A grand opening is held for an elevator connecting the Walkway to the Poughkeepsie waterfront. The glass elevator is located at Upper Landing Park and is just a short walk from Waryas Park, fine dining and the Poughkeepsie Train Station.

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